Tag Archives: smartphones

Malware Posing as Official Google Play App Found in….Official Google Play Store

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When you click on it, the app asks for administrator privileges of the device. Once opened the sole user interface FireEye observed for the app contains pops up saying “Program Error” and “It’s Deleted!” when translated to English from Korean.

via Malware Posing as Official Google Play App Found in….Official Google Play Store.

These exploits usually require the user to approve of something first.

The app captures text messages, security certificates and banking details which it then sends to a Gmail address included in the malware – an email address which Google has now terminated

Coding Horror: App-pocalypse Now

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Let’s start with the basics. How do you know which apps you need? How do you get them installed? How do you keep them updated? How many apps can you reasonably keep track of on a phone? On a tablet? Just the home screen? A few screens? A dozen screens? When you have millions of apps out there, this rapidly becomes less of a “slap a few icons on the page” problem and more of a search problem like the greater web. My son’s iPad has more than 10 pages of apps now, we don’t even bother with the pretense of scrolling through pages of icons, we just go straight to search every time.

via Coding Horror: App-pocalypse Now.

App Pays Attention to Phone’s Behavior to Spot New Malware

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Today, San Francisco-based Zimperium unveiled its zIPS Android app (the “IPS” stands for “intrusion prevention system”), which the company says uses machine learning to watch how your smartphone normally acts and can spot strange changes in its usage, enabling it to detect and prevent attacks, including those that may strike via unprotected Wi-Fi networks.

via App Pays Attention to Phone’s Behavior to Spot New Malware | MIT Technology Review.

Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

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This afternoon, that stockpile was finally used for what pretty much everyone suspected it would be used for—launching an all-out patent attack on Google and Android. The smartphone patent wars have been underway for a few years now, and the eight lawsuits filed in federal court today by Rockstar Consortium mean that the conflict just hit DEFCON 1.

Google probably knew this was coming. When it lost out in the Nortel auction, the company’s top lawyer, David Drummond, complained that the Microsoft-Apple patent alliance was part of a “hostile, organized campaign against Android.” Google’s failure to get patents in the Nortel auction was seen as one of the driving factors in its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola in 2011.

via Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google | Ars Technica.

Android tops 81 percent of smartphone market share in Q3

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Now that we know what smartphone market share looked like in the third quarter when broken down by manufacturer, it’s time to compare performance by platform. As you’d imagine, the world is still Android’s oyster. Strategy Analytics estimates that the OS has crossed the symbolic 80 percent mark, reaching 81.3 percent of smartphone shipments by the end of September. Not that Google was the only company doing well — Nokia’s strong US sales helped Windows Phone grow to 4.1 percent of the market, or nearly double what it had a year ago. Whether or not these trends continue is another matter. Although Android likely isn’t in danger given the launches of phones like the Galaxy Note 3, there are also new iPhones and Lumias on the scene; there may be one or two surprise upsets when the fourth quarter is over.

via Android tops 81 percent of smartphone market share in Q3.

Goodbye Sticky. Hello Ara.

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The design for Project Ara consists of what we call an endoskeleton endo and modules. The endo is the structural frame that holds all the modules in place. A module can be anything, from a new application processor to a new display or keyboard, an extra battery, a pulse oximeter–or something not yet thought of!

via The Official Motorola Blog: Goodbye Sticky. Hello Ara..

Apple Underwhelms in China, Too

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At 4,488 Yuan Renminbi (US$734) for the 16GB version, the iPhone might be within reach of well-heeled consumers in Beijing and Shanghai but is unlikely to win over punters in so-called third-tier cities and beyond, who have never owned a smartphone.

via Apple Underwhelms in China, Too | Light Reading.

In another online poll (again in Chinese, naturally), more than 80 percent said the price was too high.

Chic marketing may be wearing off the Apple brand.

How the NSA Spies on Smartphones Including the BlackBerry

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All the images were apparently taken with smartphones. A photo taken in January 2012 is especially risqué: It shows a former senior government official of a foreign country who, according to the NSA, is relaxing on his couch in front of a TV set and taking pictures of himself — with his iPhone. To protect the person’s privacy, SPIEGEL has chosen not to reveal his name or any other details.

The access to such material varies, but much of it passes through an NSA department responsible for customized surveillance operations against high-interest targets. One of the US agents’ tools is the use of backup files established by smartphones. According to one NSA document, these files contain the kind of information that is of particular interest to analysts, such as lists of contacts, call logs and drafts of text messages. To sort out such data, the analysts don’t even require access to the iPhone itself, the document indicates. The department merely needs to infiltrate the target’s computer, with which the smartphone is synchronized, in advance.

via How the NSA Spies on Smartphones Including the BlackBerry – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

T-Mobile No-contract Advertising: WA Court Orders Retraction

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Under T-Mobile’s new setup, subscribers can purchase handsets by making a relatively small up-front payment and then paying the remaining cost of the phone over the following 24 months. For example, Apple’s iPhone 5 costs $99 down followed by 24 monthly payments of $20. While customers do not need to sign a standard contract committing them to T-Mobile’s wireless service for two years, they do have to sign an agreement taking responsibility for full equipment costs.

via T-Mobile No-contract Advertising: WA Court Orders Retraction | BGR.

Charging $(24×20) + $99 = $579 for an IPhone when you can get a decent tablet with a bigger screen and similar features for under $200 is ridiculous.  It amazes me how people will complain when gas goes up a nickel a gallon but don’t think twice about over paying for cell phones by hundreds of dollars.

Facebook “Home” Is Next Step in Facebook’s Developing World Strategy

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Projections from the Yankee Group, a Boston-based analytics firm, highlight the potential: the number of smartphones in use is projected to double from 1.5 billion in 2013 to nearly 3 billion in 2017. Most of those 1.5 billion new adoptions will be in the developing world, and the vast majority will be lower-end Android phones. Facebook also wants to capture the attention of those who haven’t yet gotten access to the Internet—and will likely first do so on a mobile device.

via Facebook “Home” Is Next Step in Facebook’s Developing World Strategy | MIT Technology Review.